INTRODUCTION: The story of the last scene of the ’The Grinch’ movie (2000) as an example of a perspective
Review of ‘Echoes: Catechism in a Year - Introduction’ and how to use the Echoes app.
WHAT IS GOD?
The tension between ‘what is God?’ and ‘who is God?’
1 God is the ‘Uncaused-
’!
Either
The story of George Lemaitre & Edwin Hubble and the ‘Big Bang Theory’
Atheist cosmologist Fred Hoyle, in an attempt to mock and belittle George Lamaitre’s theory coined the phrase ’The Big Bang Theory’, complaining it was a religious idea disguised as science!
Rabbit-Trail: 4 dimensions vs 10 dimensions
“I Am who I Am!”
– Exodus 3:14
I am the Alpha and the Omega, [the very beginning and the very end,] the One who is, the One who was, and the One who is coming: the All Powerful. – Revelation 1:8
He is the exact image of the invisible God, the firstborn of creation, the eternal. It was by Him that everything was created: the heavens, the earth, all things within and upon them, all things seen and unseen, thrones and dominions, spiritual powers and authorities. Every detail was crafted through His design, by His own hands, and for His purposes. He has always been! It is His hand that holds everything together. – Colossians 1:15
2 God is ‘
’ and ’trans-categorical’!
“Do you think you can explain the mystery of God? Do you think you can draw God Almighty? God is far higher than you can imagine, far deeper than you can comprehend. Stretching farther than earth’s horizons, far wider than the endless ocean. – Job 11:7
…He has given human beings an awareness of eternity; but in such a way that they can’t fully comprehend, from beginning to end, the things God does. – Ecclesiastes 3:11
When I gaze to the skies and meditate on Your creation — on the moon, stars, and all You have made, I can’t help but wonder why You care about mortals… specks of dust floating about the cosmos. – Psalm 8:3-4
Illustration: tardigrade - water-bear
3 God is bigger than all of our
pictures!
’Anthropomorphism’ is
Example: The Lion King
Danger: we begin to think that God is just like us!
4 God is self-
!
…but the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse….People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives…They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand. – Romans 1:19-23
When outsiders who have never heard of God’s law follow it…they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God’s law is…woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong. – Romans 2:14-16
No one has ever seen God. But God’s Only Son, who is Himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us. – John 1:18
Omniscience – perfect in knowledge and knowing everything
Omnipresence – the ability to be everywhere at the same time
Omnipotence – the power to do anything he wants without limits!
Immutability – unchanging…never weakening or degrading or changing
Eternality – without beginning or end
Sovereignty – supreme rule and authority
Transcendence – existing beyond the 4 dimensions of our universe
And creator – the source of all that is…creating everything by his sheer power and words
Humans were created as ‘
Spirit – we each have a ‘spirit’ that will live beyond our physical death!
Love - is a quality ‘trees’ and ‘ardvarks’ don’t possess… but one God planted in humans!
Justice
Truth
Beautyyour cr
Communication
Relationship
Emotion
Purpose
Meaning
CONCLUSION: What is God?
A: God is the ‘Uncaused-Cause’, existing